Latest Water & Floods News

Pollution-cutting canopies considered for roads

canopy tunnel

Highways England is looking into ways of reducing the cost of building a canopy over roads, to protect the environment from harmful vehicle pollution.

The move is part of a new strategy to reduce the impact of Britain’s roads on the environment. The road authority said it had identified a “cantilever…

Infrastructure map of London launched

Infrastructure map of London

A new interactive map showing past, present and future construction projects in London has been launched by its mayor.

The app, which is the second phase of London’s Infrastructure Mapping Application, uses both public and private sector data to map out transport, water, energy and building projects in the capital. It…

Wiggle Blaster finishes Newark tunnelling

Severn Trent Water

Severn Trent’s tunnelling machine, Wiggle Blaster, has completed the tunnelling for a £60M water and waste improvement scheme in Newark.

The work is being carried out by the BNM Alliance, comprising of North Midland Construction and Barhale. The Wiggle Blaster’s diameter is 2.1m and the tunnel is more than 200m long.…

Final stage of Morpeth flood scheme finished

Cotting Burn dam

A major £27M flood alleviation scheme has been completed in Morpeth, Northumberland, two years after the main dam was constructed.

Built by contractors JBA-Bentley, a joint venture between JN Bentley and Jeremy Benn Associates, the Cotting Burn dam was the last piece of the Environment Agency and Northumberland County Council scheme.…

NCE100 | Technical Excellence award winners

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The NCE100 Technical Excellence award is proof that innovation thrives in the industry

Winner | Davies Maguire’s rising factory 15 64 rising factory png copy The Davies Maguire team described and illustrated how its Rising Factory could enable a multi-storey building to be constructed at the rate of a floor a…

Drainage engineers face work barriers

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Ninety nine per cent of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) engineers face multiple barriers to their work, according to new research by the ICE’s sustainable drainage task force.

The survey said the biggest barrier is ownership of SuDS, according to 69% of respondents.  Problems getting SuDS adopted affect 66% and a lack…

Engineering at the root of the Serpentine Pavilion

Serpentine Gallery Image 2

This year’s Serpentine Pavilion is reverting to an architecturally more simple concept, but the engineering behind the structure has remained just as challenging.

Consultant Aecom has once again designed the annual pavilion in conjunction with Francis Kéré, an African architect based in Berlin, Germany. Harking back to Kéré’s roots, the structure’s…

Dams could cause Amazon ‘irreparable damage’

The Three Gorges Dam

The Amazon basin could suffer irreparable damage if a significant number of dams are built as planned, causing environmental scientists to push for alternative renewables.

In a study by 10 universities and research centres, scientists found that the impacts of 140 built dams and potential impacts of a further 428 planned…

Thames Water hit by £8.55M penalty over leakages

Thames water pipe diversion 3to2

Thames Water has been isued with a penalty of £8.55M after failing to hit its leakage targets, marking the second large financial penalty it has received this year.

In its annual report Thames Water admitted it had failed to reduce leakages for 2016/17, leading water regulator Ofwat to brand the failure…

North Midland Construction wins £100M water work

Elan Valley

North Midland Construction (NMC) has taken over from previous contractor Interserve on a £100M water treatment plant scheme in Birmingham.

Interserve and subcontractor Kier left the Frankley water treatment project in April following a disagreement with client Severn Trent over costs for the scheme. Severn Trent had said it still expected…